VISION BY BOZZIO. METAL BY SABIAN.

on 21/2/14

Terry Bozzio is widely regarded as a forward-thinking and fiercely independent drummer who has always – no pun intended – marched to his own beat. So when Terry visited the SABIAN factory last year, we challenged him to build a drum kit entirely from cymbals. If anyone could do it, we knew Bozzio could.

And so for the next 2 days, Terry set up shop in SABIAN’s legendary Area 51. Loaded with prototypes, one-offs and custom offerings, Area 51 truly embodies SABIAN’s spirit of innovation. “A walk through Area 51 is a walk through SABIAN history,” says SABIAN’s Mark Love. “For us, it’s the proverbial drawing board, the place we always go back to when starting a new cymbal project.”

Working hand-in-hand with Mark Love and the SABIAN Vault team, Bozzio used his incredible imagination to build a drum kit entirely from SABIAN metal – cymbals, gongs, percussion and effects were all strategically placed to create a monster kit unlike anything we had ever seen or heard. Bozzio supplied the vision – SABIAN provided the metal. And the resulting kit was truly something to behold.

Almost as incredible as the actual process of building the kit, once it was completed, the entire thing was taken down and transported from Area 51 into the large lathing room in the SABIAN factory! This was accomplished by the old studio trick of using tape marks on the floor to mark the outline of the kit, taking extensive notes, and Bozzio’s astonishing memory. Once the kit had been moved and reassembled, Terry delivered an inspired performance to a hundred or so incredibly fortunate SABIAN employees.

Of course, the entire process was documented on film and the video will be officially launched as part of the brand new SABIAN App. Although initially available exclusively on the SABIAN App, the video will eventually go public on the SABIAN website -- so for those who do not have an iPhone or Android device, watch for an announcement on the video in the coming months.